Improved harness-buckle



NEW

A. c. LUTHER, or CANTON, OHIO.

Letters Patent No. 89,057, dated April 20, 1869.

IMPROVED HARNESS-BUCKLE.

The Schedule referred to in these Letters Patent and making part of the same.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, A. O. LUTHER, of Canton, in the county of Stark, and State of Ohio, have invented new and useful Improvements in Harness-Buckles; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of my invention, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming a my buckle to harness-traces.

Figures 7 and 8 are sectional plans, showing the operation of my buckle.

My invention relates to certain improvements in those harness-buckles which are designed particularly for buckling thick or stiff and hard harness-straps, such as traces, or reins, or tie-straps, which are often unbuckled, and which become stiff and hard from exposure to rain and rust, said improvements consisting, first, in the combination of a push-bar or knob with a common buckle-tongue, said bar or knob being so'arranged, with respect to the buckle-tongue, as that the act of pulling or pushing the strap out of the buckle shall also free the tongue'from the strap in an easy and effectual manner, and without any of that pulling or pushing to free the strap from the tongue which is often necessary in the old forms of harness-buckles; in the construction of a buckletougue with a push-bar, and with or without a goosenecked end, from a single piece of metal, said tongue being so constructed as that it can be attached to the tongue-axle by simply bending the tongue around the axle, in the same manner as the common buckletongue is attached to the buckle-frame or tongueaxle, whereby I am enabled to constructa buckle having all the advantages resulting from the use of a push-bar, or with the combined advantages resulting from the use of a push-bar and goose-necked tongueend, at about the same cost as that of 'the common harness-buckle. 1

To enable others skilled in the art to make and use my invention, I will proceed to describe its construction and operation.

The frame of my buckle is composed of the sidepieces D D, and top and bottom cross-bars O and F,

of the ordinary forms, and which are most conveniently cast in one piece.

.To the side-pieces D D is secured the cross-bar E, of general form, as shown, either by casting it with the frai'ne 1) O D F, or in any other suitable manner.

The tongue A is of the general form shown in fig. 3, and is made with the straight end I), with point-a, half-round portion a, andfiattencd end B, as shown in fig. 4, or with the goose-neckedend b, with point a,

half-round portion (1, and flattened end B, as shown in fig. 5, the last being the preferable form.

This tongue is pivoted on the cross-bar E by bend ing the portion d around the said bar, until the flattened end B comes up against the part A, as shown in fi 2.

Tie goose-necked tongue .A, shown in figs. 2 and 5, is made with a gradual rise from or near the tongueaxle E to the crest b, and from there curves downward to' the point a, which rests on the top bar, 0, of the buckle-frame, the rise to the crest I) being such that at that point the lowersurface of the tongue shall at least be flush with the face of the buckle-frame D O D, s

as seen in fig. 2.

The buckle, when applied to 'a harness-trace, presents the general appearance shown in fig. 6, G being the trace proper, H that portion of the trace connected to the hames or breast-plate, K the trace-loop on the portion H, and g g the holes in the trace G, into which the tongue A is buckled, as-shown.

Now, if it he required to unbuckle the trace G, the front part of said trace may be drawn from the loop K and grasped by one hand, while the rear part of the portion H, and the buckle-frame D C D, is held in the other hand, then by pulling on the trace G, it is drawn through the buckle-frame D O -D, and thus causes a rotation of the tongue A, and this rotation brings the bar or end B against the trace G, and forces said trace olf from the tongue A, the goose-necked end of the tongue A being peculiarly adapted to allow of the sliding of the trace G from the tongue A, during a rotary movement of said tongue and a progressive movement of said trace through the buckle-frame, as fully shown in fig. 7. f

If the trace is to be lengthened or shortened, one or more holes, the hole g, to which corresponds the desired length of trace, is brought npto the end a of the tongue A, which end, owing to the goose-necked form of the tongue, is up in just the right position to enter the hole g, which it will do on drawing the trace G back through the buckle-frame D U D, as'will be readily seen from an inspection of fig. 7

If it were preferred not to remove the front of the trace G from the loop K, the portion H and buckleframe D O D could be held in one hand, while the other hand grasped the trace Gr, behind'the buckle, and pushed it through the buckle, as shown in fig. 8, the general action of the parts, in buckling and unbuckling being the same as before shown.

It is evident that the same mode of operation would be applicable were the straight tongue, shown in fig. 4, used in place of the goose-necked form of tongue, shown in figs. 7 and 8, but that the operation of buckling and unbuckling could not be so easily effected.

it is also evident that the general construction and operation of the buckle would be the same, whether the axle-bar E were placed back of the plane of the frame 1) O D, as shown in figs. 2 and 7, or in the plane C. LYNE.

Ch ilds Carriage.

PatentedApril 20, 1869.

I Invemor, I 

